Always A Woman
by Sparticus328
Summary: Max doesn't have her transgenic abilities. What does this mean for the rest of the Manticoreans, what does it mean for her? What will it mean to Alec, who finally told Logan what's what about his feelings for the fiery female? MA.
1. Always a Woman to Me

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the wonderfully imaginative creation of James Cameron known as Dark Angel…what a shame…

**A/N:** This is a new fanfic creation by me, inspired by the Billy Joel song by the same name. Please enjoy, I have been having a wonderful time writing it, and will continue to do so…please R&R.

**Always a Woman**

Chapter One: Always a Woman to Me

Alec looked at the older man across from him. "You really don't see her at all do you?"

"Of course I do. I love her." Logan looked defiantly at the transgenic.

"That's a lie and you know it," Alec wasted no time is squashing this man's perverted idea of love. "No man I know that loves a woman would ever send her into danger without thought, even if she is the most talented, able transgenic in the world." Alec leveled a glare at Logan. He was so angry he could barely breathe.

The older man looked at the floor. A subconscious action that gave away the truth.It wasLogan's admittance that hedidn't love Max. He might have at one point, but not anymore, he just didn't recognize it yet. But Alec saw it, even if Logan didn't. He really didn't love Max at all. He saw her as a friend, certainly, but he didn't love her that much.

Alec did. He's the one who had stepped in when Logan had given them their last mission. They were supposed to go in to retrieve a safe deposit box chock full of top secret lab experiments and notes on transgenic field application. Logan somehow got the vain hope that within its contents would be the antidote for the virus that Max carried around inside her, making it impossible for her to touch him without the threat of his imminent death.

The guy was selfish, to say the least. He didn't care what happened to them as long as he could touch his precious Max again, without worrying he would die. Alec was not going to let her go into enemy territory and risk possible capture, just so Logan could get a file that may or may not hold the key to the Manticore virus in Max's veins. Alec half-heartedly wished that the virus which laid in wait to lash out at the cyber-journalist would just finish off the geek. But unfortunately, or fortunately—it really depended on how you looked at it—the key to the antidote was inside the safe deposit box. Inside of one week Logan had the antidote manufactured, and the instant they picked up the syringe, Max injected herself with it, rendering the virus obsolete.

Logan adopted a dubious expression on his face.

Alec really couldn't believe that this man could recognize the root of his own ambitions. He had been using Max for his own gain all along, the whole while believing that he loved her. He actually had deluded himself into thinking that he could act for the good of mankind, save the world… The whole super-hero complex he carried around everywhere with him was finally getting to him. When Alec could breathe again through his anger at the older man, he saw the look on his face and spoke. "What? You want to know what love is like?"

"In your case, for Max, yes. I love her and I want to make sure that you come up to par."

"Blah, blah. Woof, woof." Alec rolled his eyes. "That's a laugh."

Logan ignored the comment. "I would like this much: How do you really feel about her? How well do you really know her?"

"I don't know why I have to explain myself to you…" He nearly groaned in annoyance, having to explain his feelings to a non-descript computer geek with a complex mirroring Professor Xavier from the X-men. "But, I'll tell you." His eyes looked at Logan as he spoke, but his thoughts were very far away. "Max is…well," a gentle, involuntary laugh escaped his lips. "She can definitely kill with her smile."

"What do you mean by that?" Logan was shocked by Alec's first remark.

"It's a kind of vicious innocence: It pulls you in and caresses your every desire, until you realize the game is in her ball-park and there's no ref."

Logan wordlessly nodded. He knew the effect of Max's smile. It captured him the first time he saw it. He could have sworn he'd been drugged.

Alec continued, not noticing Logan's movements of agreement. "Her eyes alone can inflict incapacitating damage," he shuddered, "I know. I've been on the receiving end one too many times….But then again, I would rather die by her hand, or eyes, than live the rest of my life without knowing her." He leaned forward shrugging, as if there was no explanation, "She's amazing. She can either destroy or bolster beliefs with simple words. The first time we were on any kind of a mission together, I went back to save her skinny behind. There was no thank you. She just said 'if you wanna play the hero, you can't be half-assed about it.' She changed my life forever."

Alec sat for a moment in total silence. Logan knew there was more, simply by the look Alec had in his eyes. The transgenic always had a big mouth, ever since Logan met the man. But it was rare when Alec opened up like this. Alec was a soldier, he didn't get mushy. Most of the time, he seemed to not have emotions other than humor and a fierce protective nature over Max and the other transgenics the two had saved.

Logan nearly jumped when Alec continued. "She hides a lot of who she is." Alec rubbed his cheek, as if scratching at an imaginary itch. "She only gives away what she wants to let people know. Lots of secrets, and she holds them all deep, deep in her heart. Not a lot can break her cover of them. And if you ask her to share, you'd find yourself needing a new face. But when she does break, she's like a glass ornament: if she's chipped, the remaining structure can shatter with the minimalist of pressures.

"There aren't many things that scare her, but the things that do reduce her to childhood. She's terrified of loosing people. For a long time, she was terrified of Lydecker. Then she met him again. She told me that when she and Zack confronted him about Brin's capture, she was disappointed in what she saw. He was nothing but a wrinkled old man, with only half the power he once had over her. She figured she could squish him like a bug, just as much as she could have as a child. Only now, she wasn't afraid of him. He was no more a demon who would return from the dead than Edgar Sonrisa."

"Everyone would follow her every whim if she asked them to, she has that much charisma." Alec looked up and actually focused on Logan. "You saw her after the Jam Pony siege. That first night with everyone in TC. Everyone chose to follow her, chose to find a place in the world rather than run as we had since the escape. It was incredible. Wasn't it?"

Alec watched acceptingly as Logan nodded. That was one point on which he would allow Logan to have an opinion. Mostly because Alec knew Logan would agree with him.

"Max listens to advice, but doesn't often use it. She waits until she has all of the information before she makes a decision. She used to be impulsive, especially when it came to her family, but now she sees a whole lot more. She knows how important her decisions are: she sees--no, she recognizes the consequences before she makes the decisions. She refuses to put anyone in direct danger. Given, danger is the world in which we live now, but she will not risk the lives of her people without good reason--"

Logan broke in. "This person you are describing sounds more like a modge-podge creation of off-the-handle, dangerously charged emotion. Max is controlled. She doesn't let anything bother her.."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Alec couldn't believe it. Logan hadknown Max a full year longer than he did, and the man still didn't see how broken Max could get sometimes. "Max isn't a _creature._ To me, Max is a woman. No matter what circumstance deals, she's always a woman." Alec resumed his hard stare at the man across from him. "Not as a tool, as you see her." Alec sat back for a moment, and then stood up. "You just think about that for a while. I'll be back."

"Yeah? And where are you going?" Logan dared to use a threatening tone with Alec. He was not finished with this discussion about Max.

Alec gave the older man a look as if to say 'are you kidding me?' He rolled his eyes, "I don't have the time to educate you about the grievous error you just made in threatening me." He then shook his head and accepted it as part of the arrogant jerk's one-track mindedness. "You were so into your rant about the _non_-existent relationship between you and Max that you didn't even hear your own police scanner report the capture of a woman matching Max's description."

Logan waved a hand, dismissing the possibility. "It could be anyone. Besides, Max is an X5. She can take care of herself."

"You keep trying to say that. But then again, that is all that Max is to you. Your personal X5, a house trained cat burglar who does whatever you tell her to." Alec released a sigh trying to calm down. "What you didn't hear on that police scanner was that it took four men to take this girl in." He gritted his teeth at the man's stupidity. "I'm going to get her." With that he left the penthouse, focusing on the more important task at hand--breaking Max out of police custody.


	2. Asking for Help

Disclaimer: I know, I have no rights to anything of Dark Angel, minus literary freedom to write what I want how I want without repercussions from the creators as long as they are given credit. So, JC and CE here you are: credit.

A/N: Here it is, chapter two…It took a little longer than I intended, but it's worth it ;) Enjoy, and don't forget to review.

**Always a Woman**

Chapter Two: Asking for Help

Seattle. It may have been a few years in the making, but this city had become Max's home. She had hesitatingly made it her place of residence, unsure of how soon Lydecker and his team would discover her identity and location after the incident with Seth. But now it meant so much more to her. She had gone through a lot: lost a lot, gained a lot. Now that she was well on her way to making transgenics an accepted part of society, she felt well satisfied with where her strange little life had taken her.

Max stopped in her walk to work, her bike rolling beside her, halted by her holdup, She pricked up her genetically engineered ears, focusing on any obscure sound. Something had her unconsciously on her guard.

Unfortunately, the danger did not lie in external factors.

She didn't know what it was, she just knew it hurt. Worse than her seizures had been, it hurt. Her skull throbbed with earthquake-grade shudders, sending her to her knees in an instant, dropping her forgotten bike on the pavement. As she lifted her hands to grab her head in a vain attempt to dispel the pain, her muscles began to burn. All over her body, with each beat of her heart, her blood ran with fire. It wasn't a fire of passion; it was a flickering, flaming, going-to-char-skin, on fire.

_Oh, God, help!_ Max screamed in her mind, pain shooting through her like a continuous electric jolt. Electric-chair-type-sedition came to mind, but there was no one around to pin it on. No tasers, no weapons, nothing.

"There she is!" Someone yelled. She didn't know which direction it was coming in, but instinctually she knew that they were talking about her.

"Oh, hell, no!" Max recoiled from her place on the dingy sidewalk to a darkened alleyway. The dimmer light lessened the intensity of her convulsing headache.

Four men clad in dark military garb approached her. Martial law was a wonderful thing in a broken world, except when the sector police who were supposed to be protecting man-kind from riots and general unrest were easily bought and turned the other way. This, however, seemed to Max like they had been paid to grab her specifically. Well, they wouldn't have her. Not without a damn good fight.

She raged in her moments of lulled pain to throw them off, anything to escape unjust capture. But her movements seemed sluggish and weakened. There was no way that she could get away on her own. Darkness soon enveloped her and she fell limply into the waiting arms of the sector police.

When she finally woke, she could barely move to lift her hands, testing the restraints pinning her to a steel table. She gazed at the ceiling above her, loose tiles threatening to fall around her, and absently prayed that someone would find her—she didn't want to give up hope. No one knew where she was, of course, but if she gave up hope of escape—of salvation—she might as well will herself to die. They would certainly kill her, she had no doubt of it. Whatever they had done to her was close enough.

"We nearly lost her that time," a voice said. A high-pitched screeching, obviously from a charging defibrillator, sounded somewhere above her.

She opened her eyes slowly, fuzzy images meeting her gaze. She counted seconds, passing into minutes as her vision cleared gradually. Above her stood a doctor, obviously so due to the white smock he wore, and a guard of some kind, dressed in plane black fatigues. "What is this?" Her voice rasped.

"452," the doctor looked at her gently, but Max cringed at the use of her designation. "You're undergoing some radical changes to your genetic structure. While the cause is largely unknown, we did know it was going to occur. You have to trust me. I'll get you through this."

"Yeah, like all the other lab techs from Manticore have promised, and given me worthless trash. Believe me, I can give you examples." Max thought about the virus, about the Manticore-designed neural explosive implanted at the base of Alec's brainstem, about the would-be cure for the virus and the money-hungry tech that didn't even complete his work, about the tests and experiments done to Tinga, about the reindoctrination of Brin, about Zack's mental impediments courtesy of a faulty repair job to his brain. She blamed them all on Manticore. Though, she did admit that she blamed the whole neural explosive thing dually on Manticore and White.

"452, I am not a Manticore lab tech. I must admit that I used to be, in the project's early stages I was. But when Dr. Sandeman left the facility, I had no choice but to follow suit."

Max stared at the man for several minutes. Unable to come to a conclusion about the validity of his statement, she frowned at him giving a noncommittal reply. "Uh-huh. And what exactly do you mean by 'radical changes' to my genetic structure?"

Alec approached sector police headquarters with stealth only capable of an X5. He slinked around corners and under lighted windows with the agility of a cat, searching for any inconspicuous point of access. Taking a card from Max's deck, Alec nimbly climbed the exterior of the building to the roof. Using the roof access door, Alec entered crouching low. He would take no chances. This was a mission that he could not afford to go sideways.

The building stood seven stories high, ample ground to cover for a single transgenic in search of another. When he got to the second floor, traveling down from the roof, examining every room, he began to get frustrated. Where could they be keeping her?

He got to the end of the hall on the first floor with no success. Max simply didn't exist in this building. He dropped to his haunches in a corner. Something wasn't right, it was like he was missing something. He looked at a wall placard which indicated what departments were located on which floor. Scanning the information with transgenic speed, he saw it. The last indicator on the sign listed the basement. Why would the building list the basement on the directory, unless there was another department. But nothing was identified as being on the basement level.

That's where Max was being held. He was sure of it.

Alec stood up and made his way to the main stairwell of the station, the only access to the basement level. If she was in the basement, there was more behind this capture than any other they had faced. The basement. He nearly shuddered with the association it brought of Manticore's basement. If there was any kind of connection between the two… He swore to himself that he would get her out of there, and when he did he would keep her from getting caught ever again—even if that meant following her around for the rest of her life. She would hate him for it, but at least his mind would be at ease.

"Radical changes. Your genetic code is unraveling. A lot is still unknown, but we have fragments of information based on recovered files—Dr. Sandeman's files." The doctor picked up a syringe from a side table and drew some blood. "We'll need to do some more tests to be certain," he looked at the guard, handing him the syringe of her blood, "but the progression is constant. Within the hour, you should be able to function as any other human."

The male X5 slithered along the wall all the way down the stairs. He wasn't sure what he would meet. It was highly probably that the only thing he would meet would be ordinary sector cops and other ordinary officials. The only problem was he didn't know how many he would come across at a time.

The hall was quiet, and dark. If Alec were any other, he probably would have turned around and gone home, giving in to the niggling thought that Max was not the one who was captured. But he knew it wasn't true. He trusted his instincts, and his instincts told him that Max had been captured, and that they had taken her here. This basement was the last place to search.

"Come on, Max," Alec whispered into the dark corridor, "where are you?" Frustration escalated as he reached the last two doors of the hallway. Light poured out of a window in the door on the right. Chances were that's where she was being held. But what did "being held" entail?

He slowly peeked in through the small window, his eyes growing wide with what he saw. Max was there alright, but she was strapped to a table a short balding man with glasses leaning over her. Alec pried the door open quietly, opening it just enough to hear if anything was being said within the room. He really wanted more information about why they had taken Max. It wasn't your every day, run of the mill sector police arrest. They needed to know more.

"We'll need to do more tests to be certain," a man in a white lab coat spoke to one of the guards. Alec couldn't see the man's face, but he had a disturbing feeling that he was more than familiar with him. "But, the progression is constant. Within the hour, you should be able to function as any other human."

What the hell? What did he mean 'as any other human'? Alec knew they needed more information, but with how this doctor was talking, he didn't think he could allow himself to wait any more. He was going to get Max out of there now.

A/N: There it is: chapter two. (This is the second time I've loaded this chapter…I made a few changes.) What do you think? Please review and let me know. (Chapter three should be up along with this one).


	3. In Their Clutches

Disclaimer: Same old, same old: don't own nothin'. Please don't rub it in.

A/N: Voila: chapter three! I am sooooo sorry that it took so long for me to update. I guess I underestimated life… Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Please Review.

**Always a Woman**

Chapter Three: In Their Clutches

Alec opened the door all the way, allowing it to bang off the wall. He stood looming in the doorframe, a predatory glint in his eyes. "Hello, boys. I was wondering if you could help me. See, I've lost my cat." Alec caught Max's eye and winked at her.

Max felt so weak, she could barely move, but she succeeded in rolling her eyes at his allusion to their feline DNA.

He smirked. Surprisingly, his trademark grin made her feel safer. The four officers who had kidnapped Max stood two on either side of the door through which Alec had come, but they seemed of little consequence to him. He sauntered into the room as if he was in charge. Manticore gifted them with social presence, so it was unsurprising when the guards merely gazed in awe at his level of comfort, unhindered by their being there at all.

The guards in the room hesitated to act, seemingly waiting for an order from the doctor. The man in the lab coat turned at the interruption. Seeing his face clearly for the first time, Alec glared even harder. Oh, yeah, he recognized him.

"You!" The doctor standing over Max pointed a bony finger at Alec.

"What about me?" Alec stared at the man before him. "Man, you are a lot shorter than I remember. But that makes sense, when you tried to barbeque my DNA I was only about 10 years old."

Max's eyes narrowed. The doctor had lied to her. "So much for your claim, Mr. When-Sandeman-high-tailed-it-out-of-Manticore-I-was-on-his heels."

The doctor glanced between the two transgenics. "You probably don't remember, but Dr. Sandeman didn't leave until just before your escape. It was another year before I was able to leave the facility."

"Yeah, uh-huh. I'm believing that one. Really, I am." Alec shifted his gaze toward Max. She lay on a table, arms and legs strapped down, restricting all movement, even from an X series. He nodded toward her and asked, "You okay?"

"Do I look okay to you?" Max took a breath, trying to process what was going on. She couldn't break the straps on the table. With her X5 specificities that would be a simple task. Something was wrong. She let out the breath.

"Well, what are you waiting for!?" The doctor lost his patience with the guards in the room. They should have known to attack any intruder. They couldn't afford 452 to be taken, she could not fall into the wrong hands. His shout stunned the cops into action.

They attacked him uniformly, but as ordinaries they were nothing for his speed, agility, and skill. A blunt force blow to the nose here, a neck-shot there, an oxygen-depravation headlock there, and a syringe of God-knew what for the last one. It took mere moments for Alec to render all of the officers standing guard unconscious.

As soon as they all dropped to the ground, the doctor swallowed hard—seemingly realizing for the first time just how much trouble he was in for.

Alec noted his nervousness. "What? You think that a transgenic couldn't kick a cop's ass? Well, you guessed wrong. And for someone who used to work for the crack-institution that raised us, that's surprising."

The doctor frowned, staring evenly at Alec. This man was not a Familiar. He was a transgenic. The doctor breathed a little easier. He refocused, glancing once at Max before beginning. "I never worked for Manticore," he responded coldly. "And Lydecker was a pawn for the Committee—until he learned better."

"Oh, please don't try to tell me that Lydecker was one of the good guys." Max strained against the restraints, wanting desperately to get the tight bindings away from her skin—she felt like she was on fire, literally. But, it was to no avail. Even with the tremendous effort she exerted, her arms barely moved.

The doctor looked at Max again. "No. Not at first. When he was hunting the rogue unit…he only considered serving Manticore, an organization that he believed so much in. They gave him a purpose again, after all. Especially after the death of his wife, Donald seemed so lost. Manticore allowed him to serve in a way that could only be beneficial to all involved in the program. It was his duty to supervise the development of the X5s—from their conception, through infancy, and into adolescence and adulthood. He made it his personal agenda to see that they grew up properly. That's why he was always so hard on all of you. He considered you his responsibility. He actually thought of you his children. Like flesh and blood."

"That's a load of bull. And I hear a lot of it in my line of work, so—trust me—I know what it sounds like." Alec crossed his arms over his chest. Why was he even letting this screwy old man speak anyway? Oh, right…intel.

"It's not." He tried to defend himself as quickly as he could. He knew he didn't have much time in which to do so, though. He could see the predatorial light glinting in Alec's eyes again. Donald was a good friend, until I left. That was probably just after the X5s entered their twelfth year."

"And why was that, my good doctor?" Max asked sarcastically.

"When Sandeman left, he was the only one who posed a conceivable threat to the Committee. He knew it too. That's why he left. The rest of the initial medical and developmental staff were of little consequence, so long as we followed orders and didn't question operation."

"Lemme guess. You questioned it, didn't you?" This explanation was actually turning out to be very well detailed, an obvious sign that it was true. Alec uncrossed his arms and stepped closer to the table where Max still lay bound. If they were just going to chat, he might as well make Max a little more comfortable.

"By the time I left, jurisdiction had shifted." The doctor moved to the other side of the table and undid the bindings on Max's left while Alec released the straps from her right side, all the while continuing his explanation. "The program was no longer government funded—black books or no black books. It had switched to private ownership and shareholdings. Despite the speculation that this was largely due to the government's loss of money when the Pulse hit, a majority of the staff knew that it was because somebody in the Committee got greedy.

"Wait. So, you tailed it out because someone's pockets were being lined and you had what—moral objections?" Alec couldn't believe it. He didn't even settle that low. "There were people under your care. Transgenics, given, but we were still people."

"I did not leave because of moral objections. Trust me. After Sandeman, I was the only remaining of the original three which designed the first stages of transgenics." The doctor helped Max sit up on the table. "You should be able to move of your own accord in a few hours," he said gently as she leaned forward against Alec's arm.

Alec rested a hand on her shoulder to steady her. Then the doctor's words registered. "What? Max can't move? You bastard, what the hell did you do to her?"

"The only thing I did was stabilize her DNA."

"What?" Alec looked to Max, hoping she knew what was going on.

She merely raised her eyebrows. "Don't look at me. I was unconscious the whole time."

"452—"

Max cut him off, "the name's Max."

"Max," the doctor conceded, "wasn't built like any other transgenic. She has specially coded DNA. Part of that coding was the initialization of mutation—spontaneous rapid change. I never saw the blueprint, so I couldn't tell you what the mutations are. I just know when they should take place. I knew one was coming up soon. So, I made it my goal to find Max, and ensure that she would live through the mutating of her genetic construct. It could have killed her."

Alec looked at Max, examining every inch of her face trying to identify a change.

Max observed his perusal. "I'm ok. Really. But, I have to believe what he says." Max told him what she felt before she noticed the sector cops had taken interest in her. "I couldn't get away from the sector cops, and ended up passing out in the alley. If they had just left me there, no one would have seen or heard me. If anything had gone wrong, I could have died in that dirty street and no one would've known."

Alec considered her statement. _No one but me._ He thought back to when he had been arguing with Logan on his way out the door.

"_How do you know it's her?" _

"_I just do. Now leave it alone."_

"_No. I'm not finished yet."_

_Alec turned around just about ready to pummel the older man. Instead, he stepped close to his face and said quietly, "I said drop it."_

_Logan looked terrified, like he thought Alec would snap and ring his neck, so he didn't make a sound. He just nodded._

_Alec took a step back and flinched. All of a sudden he was having difficulty breathing. It felt almost like he had been stabbed through a lung. It was a physical sensation he was familiar with, given some of his away missions with Manticore. But in this case, there was no puncture. He simply couldn't breathe._

The sensation that hit him was so like how she described it, he knew he couldn't deny the connection. But, he kept it to himself for the time being. "So, you're open to what this guy has to say?"

"Yeah." She attempted a shrug. "I guess I have to be. It may be the only way that we can learn about the complications surrounding the reversal of Manticore. You said it yourself, Alec. After I left, things got a whole lot worse. Let's find out why."

"Alright. But since sector cops are such pricks, let's get out of here for the debrief, preferably before these guys wake up."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it!! Please review and let me know.

A/N2: I am still at school, so the next update might take me some time. But, I promise, I will get it out!


	4. Going Home

Disclaimer: I don't own the show Dark Angel, I don't own the characters either. Life just wouldn't be complete if I wasn't allowed to at least write fanfic for it though.

A/N: Yeah, I know. It's been a while. Everything I can possibly say in excuse is simply excuse: between writer's block and school and work….yeah, it's been a while. I'm trying to keep it up, but you know how it can be sometimes. Anyway, here's chapter 4. Enjoy!

**Always a Woman**

Chapter Four: Going Home

The doctor watched as Alec hovered near Max, wondering about their relationship. The information that he had collected on 452 contained a brief summary of her behavior and actions after being captured by Manticore the year before, including the pairing of breeding partners. This man must be 494, the X5 she had been paired with. He fit the description, but their continued association unnerved him. All other breeding pairs at Manticore once separated never sought each other out again. This was a unique bit of information.

"Max, do you think you can walk?" Alec watched as she slid off the table, attempting to stand.

She sagged with her own weight before dropping to her knees on the ground. "No."

Alec walked up to her, thinking of a way to get her out of there. He dropped to one knee with his back to her. "Get on."

Max didn't protest. She clambered onto his back, grateful that he had offered. "Thanks."

When he stood, he felt her grip on his shoulders falter. "Do you think you'll be able to hang on for a while?"

"Probably not for very long. I really don't feel up to my usual standards. At all." He could feel the strain in her voice. She was exhausted. Max was never this tired.

"Hmm." He looked around the room for a minute. Spotting a coil of rope, he walked over and took it from the wall. He tied the rope around them both. He could hold her up well enough, but that didn't count her keeping balance enough to stay where she was. At least the rope would keep Max from falling off his back.

"You know, you're pretty smart sometimes." Max sounded shocked, as if this were the first time he used common logic to solve a problem. She was desperate to find anything that hadn't changed for her. The one thing she knew was there was the banter she shared with Alec, and she clung to it.

"Gee, thanks Maxie," he commented sarcastically, using the nickname he knew she hated.

Smiling at achieving the desired response, she threatened, "Alec, if I had the energy I would hit you for that." Instead, she slumped against his back, unable to hold herself up any longer.

He couldn't bring himself to release the laughter that threatened at her feeble attempt at her usual behavior toward him. The situation was not funny. For a Manticorean elite to loose their transgenic abilities was beyond comprehending. Yet it had happened, to Max no less, the one person in the world who had a mind of her own outside of Manticore and felt an obligation to do whatever good she could for the world. Whether it was residual compassion from working with Logan for years or her own stubborn will, Alec never really knew or cared. He just cared that it was a part of who she was, and he respected her all the more for it.

Max reached her arms over Alec's shoulders and let them hang loosely. She was too tired to actually hold onto him. "Can I go home now?" Max almost whined the request. The day had taken so much out of her, though, that she didn't care if she sounded like a child. She was tired, feeling cranky and very weak. All she wanted was to get back to her apartment and sleep without having to think about the rest of the world.

"Definitely." Alec headed for the door.

"Wait."

Alec turned at the doctor's voice. He had almost forgotten the man. "What?" He asked impatiently. Loathed as he was to admit it, Alec just wanted to take Max somewhere comfortable so she could sleep. "Man, what is your name anyway?"

"Macpherson," he answered. "Max can't go back to her place. That's one of the reasons I had the sector police help me track her down. Her place is being watched by the Familiars."

"Damn." Alec pursed his lips in thought. Where could he take her so that she would be safe?

The doctor looked sheepishly at Alec as he thought. He might as well admit his previous hostility to the man he now understood to be transgenic. "I have to admit, I thought you were a Familiar at first."

Alec's eyes widened as he looked at the man before him. "Well, that makes me feel wonderful. Really, warm-fuzzies abound because I look like an inbred machine from hell."

Max lifted her chin to his shoulder and evenly said, "No, you don't. We met a fair few of them, remember? Faces like bricks. You don't look like them."

"Thanks for that, Max." Alec turned sharply as one of the guards moaned, consciousness slowly returning.

Max clung to his shoulders at the sudden movement. She felt kind of nauseous, but tried to keep that from Alec. With his new behavior in taking care of her, she wondered what he might do if he knew she was sick. She stiffled a moan and dropped her face behind his shoulders again.

Alec frowned slightly at her action. "Max? You okay?"

Max grumbled something incoherent, hoping that any response was proof enough that she was fine, other than feeling weak.

Alec settled in his mind that she was alright. "Well, we should talk about living arrangements after we get out of here."

They left the building unnoticed by the various cops that roamed the halls, and proceeded to edge as inconspicuously as possible into a deserted alleyway. The doctor trailed a short distance behind them, having discarded the white coat in the basement.

"So, what do you think? Where should we set up?" Alec asked hesitatingly. He had one idea, but hated to offer it as a suggestion. He was no where near comfortable with the arrangement, but if Max would be safe there, that's what it had to be.

"I have no idea." She sighed, unable to even think clearly. "Why are you asking me anyway?"

"Well, it's gotta be somewhere you'll be safe, Max." He half turned to glance back at her. He had to say it. Almost groaning as he offered the suggestion, he said, "I was thinking about Logan's—rather Sandeman's house. It would be the next best place for you." Alec stuffed down his jealousy in favor of her comfort and welfare. "You'll be comfortable there, right? I mean, you are there a lot…And it's been rigged with security systems, so in a way it's kind of like a safe-house, right?" The words rushed out, he said them more to convince himself that it would be better that way than to compile a "pros" list for consideration.

"Yeah," she mumbled distractedly into his back. "I guess." She really didn't want to go there. Especially with recent events, Logan was the last person she wanted to see. "Alec," Max began worriedly, "if the Familiars know about my apartment…what about OC?"

"I'll call her," he said, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. As he dialed OC's pager, Alec tried to be optimistic, but he was having trouble convincing himself it would be for the better. He would have said they were heading back to TC, but he had no idea what was going on with her. Their best option at this point was to keep her outside the gates, until they knew what was happening. That and Sam Carr would have an easier time examining her if he didn't have to sneak inside TC, if they needed him.

OC called back less than five minutes later. "What's goin' on, Boo?" her sultry voice questioned. "Have you seen Max, by the way? Normal is chewing me out and I am getting ready to cram one of these mommy-missin'-packages down his bip-bip-biping throat."

"Hey OC," Alec smiled. "Yeah, Max is with me. We had a kind of medical emergency and won't make it into work. Uh, incidently, don't go home tonight. Come by Logan's and we'll have a tell-all."

"A'ight. Everything okay, though? You sound a little worried, Alec."

"Everything's good, OC. Just promise us that you'll crash at Logan's with Max tonight and not go home."

"Yeah, sure."

"I am not paying you to gab on that telephone, Princess! 12 Ashen Vine and Cedar!" Alec heard Normal yelling in the background.

"Yeah, keep your shirt on, Normal. I gotta run, Boo. See you later tonight. And tell Max to watch her backside. I'll be by right after work."

"Thanks, OC. See you then." Alec closed his phone and dropped into his pocket, noticing that they had arrived at Logan's place. His feet had propelled themselves on the entire trek. Alec motioned to the house for the doctor, still following behind them, and climbed the steps. "She'll be there," he said looking back at Max again, but she never heard the words. She had fallen asleep, her cheek resting on Alec's shoulder.

Alec was thoroughly confused. The only times Max ever slept was her once a week, three hour snooze fest, or when she'd been knocked out in a fight, which rarely happened. This was just unnatural. Whatever was going on with her, it scared him. If she fell asleep on the way home from the local sector police prescient, then would she even be able to defend herself if another attack came? There was no way to tell, and he didn't want to take the chance. Just thinking about the possibility of Max getting attacked again, without having any transgenic resources of her own, was enough to make his heart stop for a few beats. If Max was hurt and he hadn't been around to protect her he would never forgive himself.

When Rachel had died, Manticore had given him enough to make him not care. It had been Max who told him that Rachel's death hadn't been his fault but Manticore's. Now there was no Manticore to blame. If something happened to Max, he could only blame himself.

Alec quietly stepped into the cyber-journalist's entryway, and let the doctor enter before closing the door behind them. He stepped carefully, not wanting to wake his precious cargo. But Logan shouted around the door casing. "Alec, if that's you, you better expect a continuation of our discussion."

Alec flinched, thinking that Max would wake, but she only turned her face further into his shoulder and kept sleeping. "Logan," Alec hissed, stepping into the living room. "Now is so not the time!"

Logan turned away from his computer screens to take in the sight. Max was hoisted on Alec's back, her head leaning lazily against his shoulder with her eyes closed. "And what's this?"

Alec smirked at the man's jealous streak. "Max is dealing with something pretty big," he said coolly. "I suggest, you keep your voice down and let her sleep."

The doctor came around the corner, stopping short when he saw Logan. He turned to Alec who rolled his eyes and moved to set Max gently on the couch. The doctor moved to help him untie her from his back.

Logan frowns at the intrusion of the man. "Alec, I think your judgement is failing, bringing an unknown man into my home."

"First of all, my judgement is fine." When Max had been settled as comfortably as possible, he continued, "This guy is the only one who has a clue about what's going on with Max. Second, this is not your home. You live here because your place got trashed by the Familiars. Remember, this house is and always will belong to Sandeman."

The doctor let the information settle. Sandeman's house. That is, before he was resigned to go on the run. "Alec," Macpherson tested the name. When Alec turned to him expectantly, he continued, gesturing to Logan, "just who is this guy?"

"I'm Max's boyfriend," Logan answered.

Alec rolled his eyes. "I don't think you should be labeling yourself, especially considering the fight that the two of you had this week."

"It's just a fight…" Logan trailed off, turning back to his computer.

"Yeah, subsequently followed by her not speaking to you." Alec turned to the doctor to explain Logan's presence. "He's a cyberjournalist. Max and I help him out from time to time." For some reason, Alec felt obligated to keep the whole Eyes Only thing under wraps.

The doctor shrugged. "Alright. As long as you trust him."

Alec thought about that. Max may trust him, but he didn't. Ever since he met the guy, he thought something was out of place with him.

The doctor decided not to comment on the expression that settled on Alec's face. He was the one who had suggested this place as a refuge for Max to begin with. "So, anybody have a microscope?" He asked uncomfortably, pulling the vile of Max's blood from a pocket.

A/N: So, tell me. What do you think? Reviews, people, I seek reviews. Let me know how you think it's progressing.


	5. Answers and Evidence

Disclaimer: I don't own the show Dark Angel, I don't own the characters either. Life just wouldn't be complete if I wasn't allowed to at least write fanfic for it though.

A/N: Alright, so despite the homework and other crap I should be doing, I chose to write the next chapter. Here it is: chapter 5. Hope you enjoy it. And don't forget to review!!

**Always a Woman**

Chapter Five: Answers and Evidence

Logan turned nervously back to the man that Alec had brought with him. The vile of red liquid ominously held in his hand. "What is that?"

"It's Max's blood. I drew some just before Alec came to get her." Macpherson turned to Alec. "I was going to see if I could see what exactly is happening inside of her."

"Yeah, sure. I think I saw a microscope in the basement." Alec moved to the door. "Some kind of lab equipment too, if you need it. I guess Sandeman liked to take his work home with him."

"Really?" Macpherson frowned, though it was something that Sandeman would do. "All I need for now is the microscope and staging slides."

"Sure," and he descended the stairs. Alec rummaged through papers, and under what seemed like miles of white dust-sheeting before he found the table-top microscope and box of slides. They really needed to clean out the basement. Other than the obvious piano and paint supplies left behind by Joshua, they didn't know what could have been stored down there.

When Alec came up from the basement, Macpherson had relocated to the kitchen, syringe in hand ready to prepare a slide for microscopic investigation. Alec set the microscope on the table and gave the box of slides to the doctor while he uncovered the equipment from the plastic bags it had been wrapped in for protection. Then he moved to sit across the table and waited for the doctor's results.

"Alright, let's see this." Macpherson sat before the microscope and slid the slide in place under the lens. He changed the magnification several times, before settling with one and evaluating the blood sample.

(A/N_: I know that's not how genetic coding is seen, but give me a little wiggle room. I can't remember how the red blood cells are separated from the plasma or what the plasma is put into to see the genetic code…so, let's pretend it's that easy…)_

The doctor slowly looked away from the microscope. He turned concerned eyes to the rest of the room. "Well, we have our answer." He hesitated. He knew Alec, at least, would not be too happy with his findings. "She's becoming human."

Alec stared blankly at the doctor for a moment. Then he stood and went to the doorway, staring absently at Max's sleeping form on the couch.

"What exactly does that mean?" Logan moved closer, wanting to look into the microscope and see for himself.

The doctor moved the microscope away from the other man. He was certainly no scientist and wouldn't understand what he saw, even if he was allowed access to the microscope. Instead, Macpherson explained the findings himself. "Max's DNA is stripping itself of every transgenic characteristic. Her body is shredding the genetic manipulations that Manticore applied."

Alec didn't move as the information sunk in. "Anything that Manticore did to her," Alec reaffirmed. "So that means that the virus doesn't exist anymore, either."

"Virus?" Macpherson questioned.

"Yeah," Alec reluctantly supplied, realizing the implications, "the last time Max was at Manticore they gave her a retro-fitted virus that was DNA-specific, aimed at killing only one person." He turned and gestured at the other Ordinary in the room. "Logan."

"Interesting. Yes, I remember something like that being in her file. Director Renfro ordered it, am I right?" Macpherson cringed as he said the name. She had been a horrible woman.

Alec nodded.

"You mean I can touch her and not get sick?" Logan looked ecstatic at the news.

"Yes, I suppose." Macpherson frowned, exchanging a nervous glance with Alec.

"You know what else it means, don't you, Logan?" Alec stood up straight, blocking the way to the other room as Logan made to move in that direction. He couldn't keep himself from commenting. "Your own personal cat-burglar is out of commission as well."

"Shut up, Alec. That's not what it was ever about. I thought we settled that." Logan sat at the table again, his arms on the table, as he glowered.

"No. You denied it. But I know the truth." Alec crossed his arms over his chest, not daring to look triumphant, and resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at the older man.

The men heard a knock at the front door and turned to stare through the doorway. No one moved. Apprehension drew on each of them, and Logan merely looked on in confusion as Alec and Macpherson exchanged worried looks.

"Alec? Are you in there?" OC's voice came muffled through the thick wooden door. "Damn, boy. You called me over here and you're not even in there. Fool, better not be cryin' no wolf story on me!"

"Hang on," Alec called, moving to the front door and let his friend in. "Sorry, OC. We're just a little tense around here."

"And why's that? White gone and spooked y'all?" The black girl ducked under his arm as he held the door for her.

"Well…" Alec trailed of, ushering her into the kitchen. "First, we'll make introductions, then we'll discuss the headache." He waved a hand in the doctor's direction. "That's Macpherson. Formerly a Manticorean geneticist with the start-up of the transgenic program, now apparently a generally nice guy trying to do the right thing. He's trying to protect the series he helped create and fight those who want to kill all off us test-tube kiddies." He then gestured at OC. "This is Original Cindy, all-girl-team player, down-ass female, straight-up friend, trustworthy, loyal…you get the picture," he side-stepped the irritated punch she swung at him.

"Why exactly is Cindy here?" Logan questioned edging toward the doorway of the kitchen.

"Well, now that the whole party's here we can explain it and not leave anyone out." Alec threw a withering glare at Logan, impeding the older man's progress into the other room. Logan gave a defeated sigh, and gestured for the doctor to explain the situation.

"Original Cindy?" Macpherson tested the name.

"Call me Cindy, suga'," she offered, sitting at the table across from him.

"Very well, Cindy then. To explain the beginning of the situation, Max had a bit of a bad spell earlier today. And, because of it, we've discovered that her transgenic DNA is fraying from the inside out." At the quizzical look he received, he explained, "Max is becoming like a normal human, none of her transgenic specifications are sticking."

"So my home girl's lab-wiring is coming undone. Manticore failed again, big surprise there." OC leaned back in the low kitchen chair. She stopped, and thought. "Does that mean that bitch-virus is on the out and out, too?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes," Alec offered sullenly. "But, if you remember, Max being human means no super speed, no excelled agility, no high-jumping ability…in short, Max can't do anything to defend herself."

"So?" Logan asked, drawing a blank as to why this could cause a problem.

"So," Alec rolled his eyes at the man's stupidity, "if White tracks Max anywhere and corners her, she has no chance of escape on her own." He couldn't believe Logan hadn't thought of this for himself. "And since Macpherson and I assumed that Max had been traced back to your apartment," he looked at OC, "leaving it up for grabs to the Familiars, I figured you wouldn't be safe there either. That's why we called you."

"Right." OC responded absently, tasting the fear of what could have happened had she gone home. She slowly absorbed everything that they had told her, processing it even slower. When the full meaning of every word had been gained, she stood and looked around for Max. She hadn't been anywhere in sight when she came into the house. She looked fearfully at Alec, pleading with him to tell her that she was with them and safe. "Where is Max?" she asked evenly, threatening the possibility that any harm had come to her.

Alec turned and led her to the living room, where Max still slept soundly on the couch. OC sighed and leaned over the back of the couch, brushing Max's hair out of her face with a motherly gesture. Max was safe—for now, at least.

… … …

Some hours later, Max groaned as she tried to shift on the dark leather couch. She felt like her brain had gone through a light show with 1000 watt bulbs and strobe lights. As she blinked in repetition, getting her brain to recognize her surroundings, a rough face swam above her. "Oh my GOD!"

"Max! You're awake! Finally." Logan tried to wrap his arms around her, but she was just barely able to keep his arms back.

"Get away from me, Logan. Don't touch me!" Max cringed, shrinking as far away as she could.

"But, Max. You don't carry the virus anymore, it won't hurt me." Logan continued to try to pull her toward him, she continued to fight with the little strength she had. "You must be a bit delirious...we still don't really know how or what happened to you."

"You fool! I am not delirious, and I am most certainly not worried about your life! I want you to get away from me!" Max's strength was ebbing fast, she needed help. "Alec!"

Listening to the commotion from the kitchen, Alec found no end to pleasure when he heard her call _his _name for help. No more prompting was needed for the male transgenic to step around the corner, tossing a glance at Macpherson and OC, and remove a desperate Logan from a struggling Max with a single hand. Alec sat on the coffee table near the couch, acting as a barrier between Logan and his 'confused' love.

"Alec!" Logan stood up from the floor and straightened his rumpled clothing. "What do you think you're trying to do?"

"Trying?" Alec raised his eyebrows, amused at the Ordinary's choice of words. "My friend, the word is 'succeeding.' And I am _succeeding_ in protecting my interests. Max obviously doesn't want you near her. And since her condition at this point in time is questionable, I had to intervene on her behalf." Alec evaluated the older man as he stretched and worked his left shoulder, with which he had landed on the floor. "Gee, I hope I didn't hurt you," he said dryly.

Logan pursed his lips and turned to his computer indignantly. Alec smirked, then straightened and turned to Max. "We checked out your bloodwork, and there's something I should probably tell you--I really am sorry to say it, but you're totally human, Max."

Max looked disbelievingly at him. "What?" Alec only nodded, mournfully, at the news. Every implication surrounding this revelation slammed her consciousness with brashness that, if she wasn't sitting, would have weakened her knees and caused her to land unceremoniously on her butt. "You mean…?" Max didn't dare speak it, so afraid she was of being defenseless.

Alec looked at the coffee table before meeting her eyes again. "Yes. Just like trying to fend of Logan," he tossed a heated glance in the man's direction, "you wouldn't be able to do anything against any of the Familiars."

"This has to be a nightmare. Pinch me. Really." Max offered her arm to Alec.

He only shook his head and Max dropped her arm onto her lap. "It's not a dream Max. Trust me, I wish it were. That way you could wake up at any moment and kick my ass for the frustration this whole stupid scenario is causing you."

"Why would I kick your ass? It's not your fault." Max bit the inside of her mouth, trying to adjust to the new knowledge.

"I know it's not, but it would make me feel better, knowing that you're ok." Alec hated thinking of Max as weak or unable to take care of herself.

"Right, so you could antagonize me into realigning your anatomy," she smirked at him, the sarcasm playing in her voice.

"Exactly. Now that we've sorted out the details," he offered playfully. But he soon sobered again. "I think I'll hang around from now on though. You and OC will live here—" Max looked aghast. "What? It's not bad, you'll be safe. As far as we know, White knows nothing about this place." She shrugged in compliance and waved for him to continue. "And I'll hang around for support." He winked at her.

"Support?" Max blinked at him. "Somehow when you say it, it just sounds wrong."

A/N: Well, what do you think of this one? Eh, eh? Review, please, and let me know. Please let it be more than a simple "that was great" or "need to delete the whole thing and start again." Substance people! Tell me, does it follow itself properly? Make sense? Any suggestions would be great!!

A/N2: Now, don't be expecting the next chapter to appear in the next week like this one has…I do have to do my homework eventually. But I promise I will be working on it, and hopefully have it up soon. For now, sit back and contemplate the possibilities…


	6. Never Write Secrets Down on Paper

Disclaimer: I don't own the show Dark Angel, I don't own the characters either. Those would be the property of the creators--Mr. Cameron and Mr. Eglee. Life just wouldn't be complete if I wasn't allowed to at least write fanfic for it though.

A/N: Please don't hate me. I know it's been years since I updated anything. Unfortuanately, college loans will not pay themselves back, and I just haven't had the proper inspiration to complete some of my thoughts for various chapters. That is changing. As you can see with this chapter, I am updating. It may take some time, but it will happen.

A/N2: I know many of you aren't happy with the fact that Max is defenseless, but she does have Alec. If you trust me and my writing, please keep reading. You won't be disappointed. I do have a plan.

**Always a Woman**

Chapter Six: Never Write Secrets Down on Paper

Dust curled around the air as Alec shifted another large piece of sheeting from the boxes he had found piled in the basement. He sighed, unable to even imagine what waited in the boxes before him, and moved to the first one in his path.

_It's only been a day and I'm doing housework,_ he thought, restraining the urge to vocally grumble at the task. It had to be done. If they were all going to fit in the house, they needed the space in the basement. God knew they couldn't live through another night like the one before...

_As night settled around them, Alec took it upon himself to dole out sleeping arrangements. "Alright. Max gets dibs on the only bed in the place. And OC can bunk with her in there." He gestured to the only room, other than the bathroom, that had a door and stood up from the place he had taken on the couch next to Max. "Macpherson can have the—"_

_  
"No way!" Logan cried landing himself on the cushion Alec had vacated. "If you're going to say he can have the couch, it's out of the question!" _

_Max stood up from the couch with OC and moved to the bedroom, far away from the inevitable argument. Logan was behaving more like a child lately, and it annoyed her. _

"_Why are you whining about this? That is, other than your natural selfishness?" Alec stared at the older man, tired of putting up with his grumbling._

"_I'm not whining. It's a valid reason! This couch is the only surviving piece of furniture I have from my old apartment. For sentimental reasons, I claim the couch," Logan proclaimed defiantly._

"_A couch?" Alec rolled his eyes. "For God's sake, Logan. You're supposed to be the voice of justice and social resistance to crime, yet you choose to pick a fight over who gets to sleep on your couch." He sighed leaning back against a wall. "Jeez, man, get a hobby."_

"_Alec," Macpherson said, leaning on through the kitchen doorway. "Its fine, I can sleep in the kitchen."_

"_At least let me find you some blankets," Alec offered. The man had been open and helpful to them, he deserved better than sleeping on the worn kitchen chairs, most likely slumped against table. _

_Macpherson waved Alec's offer away, heading back into the kitchen, the microscope cradled gently in his arm on top of the table. "It won't be the first time I've slept at the table."_

_Logan lounged on the couch clutching three pillows tightly beneath him, quickly falling into a lightly-snoring sleep. _

_Alec sat on the floor with a groan. He leaned back against the wall outside the bedroom where the women slept. They had to survive at least one night. They would have time to do something differently for tomorrow, but for now, all they had to do was sleep..._

Between keeping general order in the house, and trying to clean out the basement, Alec started to feel like a mix between landlord and father. He shook his head at the idea. It had only been a day and he was going nuts.

He shifted the box to one of the piles he lined along the walls, attempting to hide the gray cinder blocks. She wouldn't like it, but it was the safest place in the house. He could already see her shuddering at the idea of being holed up in a windowless room.

He pursed his lips in contemplation. Maybe he could find some of Joshua's paints and do a little something to liven it up.

… … …

Max paced the living room, brooding over her new predicament. This sucked. She couldn't even go outside on her own because Alec was freaked she would get swiped by White and his ghoul-like band of Familiars. She was bored, and human.

This really sucked.

Defeated, Max slumped to the couch and agitatedly leafed through the periodicals that lay strewn over the coffee table. Logan was such a slob lately, it was disgusting. She used to think that Alec would be a pig, but it turned out that his military-mode of cleanliness had been maintained. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that it was Alec sorting through the boxes of who-knew-what that resided in the basement rather than Logan.

Part of it made sense. Most of the boxes pertained to Sandeman, and therefore Manticore, so it was unlikely that Alec would want Logan anywhere near them. But Logan was such a neat-freak when it came to his information. Something about the two of them didn't settle with her anymore. Everything had been turned upside down. Logan was a slob and Alec was an over-protective neat-freak. Go figure.

She shrugged, finally giving up on deconstructing the change—if it was even a change, or simply facts she hadn't noticed before.

Max's eyes wandered the room as the antsy feeling returned. She was bored again. Her gaze settled on a metallic object poking out from beneath the magazines. "Oooh, toy," Max said, reaching for Alec's discarded cell phone.

… … …

Most of the boxes he had sorted through contained reports on procedure and financing. Boring stuff. And it was all paper. Granted, all of the information gathered in the masses of boxes probably constituted Manticore's entire database.

Research planning, model characteristics of the transgenic program, and individual profile and mission logs... Some of it might even be helpful in Terminal City. But it was all paper. It would take days to sort through everything that had been collected. Then there was analysis...

Alec sighed, leafing through another folder. Dix and Luke would probably love this kind of thing. He dropped the file on top of a waist-high stack, dust lifting to move lightly on the air. Before he could send it all to the boys in TC, he knew he had to sift through the rest of it. There could be something about Max in here that could help.

He picked up the next box and set it on the piano bench. He lifted off the dusty cover and pulled out the first file. He stopped, staring fixedly at the first page. It was Max. Her entire transgenic genetic sequence. A profile of what she was...what she used to be anyway.

He leafed through the other folders in the box, anxiously. He wouldn't allow himself to hope now. Hope would lessen his strength and lead him to rely on an unconfirmed speculation. He set the box aside, masking it among the other piles he stacked against the wall. If he could help it, he would be the only one who would look through that box. The unsettled feeling growing just under his ribcage told him their existence relied on what that box contained about the girl upstairs.

... ... ...

"Alec, why am I on your speed-dial list?" she asked looking up from the menu on his phone as he came up the stairs.

He met her gaze, but didn't respond.

She frowned at the dazed expression in his eyes. When his expression turned reminiscent, her eyes narrowed. "Hellooo? Pretty boy, are you in there?" she drawled, sarcasm lacing her voice.

He dropped beside her on the couch. "What?" He glanced at the face of his cell phone, glowing from its place in her hand. "Oh," he grinned, "that's only for when I need a good lap dance." Alec held his arms up in defense, anticipating her retaliatory punch to the gut.

Max pursed her lips uncomfortably at his reaction. "Moron," she breathed, forcing away the smirk that threatened at the edges of her mouth. She couldn't find pleasure in his instinctive reaction anymore. Now it was merely a habitual response. He knew better.

Alec dropped his arms and looked at her. "I'm sorry, Max." He had known it was stupid to joke about it when her humanity was such a sore point for her. He opened his mouth, but closed it. He couldn't tell her. In case it was nothing, he didn't want to get her hopes up for nothing.

She shrugged, shifting slightly, still unused to the deflated feeling her muscles moved with. Her recovery was slow, but progress was being made. At least she no longer felt like her arms were noodles. She sighed. So far it hadn't been an issue, but it was only a matter of time before it would turn into a large, glaring problem.

She trusted Alec, sure. But usually, it was the two of them in dangerous situations. She wouldn't be able to watch his back, and he would most likely be too preoccupied watching hers to defend himself if the time came. She really hated the weakness. She hated the idea of not being useful to anybody. She hated being human. After nearly two years of wanting to be a normal girl, she got what she wanted, and she despised it.

Alec plucked his phone from her hands, after noticing the murderous glint in her eyes as she slowly squeezed it. He wasn't entirely sure what the look was for, but he knew it had nothing to do with his weak taunt. "I need to go pick up a few things." Alec could tell that Max needed a little time to think through things. He figured now was as good a time as any. He stood from the couch to show his intent, knowing that her focus was directed inward, battling her own thoughts. "So, if you need anything at all, just call me." He patted her on top of the head, drawing her from her thoughts.

She aimed an aggravated swat at his gesture. He let his arm go loose, allowing her to force it away. "Regardless of my physical state, I will kick your ass one way or another," Max stated defiantly.

Alec smirked. "I know," he said gently, then left.


End file.
